Five people were killed in an Ethiopian bombing raid
at a displaced people's camp at Lailai Deder in Eritrea,
eye witnesses told IRIN today (Tuesday). An international
journalist who was at the scene earlier today told
IRIN that the raids started at 4.50 a.m., and were
followed by another attack by Ethiopian aircraft at
about 9 a.m.. Local people told journalists the displaced
persons, living in tents with some support from humanitarian
agencies, had been deported last June from northern
Ethiopia. Lailai Deda is about 40 km from the front
line.

Both sides in the ongoing Ethiopia-Eritrea border war
have hundreds of thousands of people already displaced
or recently repatriated thanks to the conflict. Humanitarian
agencies acknowledge that further displacement will
happen if the conflict spreads to a wider area. A
notional 40 km strip either side of the border is home
to about one million people.

OAU meeting "rowdy", Eritrean ambassador expelled

A meeting of the OAU central organ for conflict management
held today at the OAU headquarters in Addis became
"rowdy", a diplomatic source told IRIN. The
meeting was held to discuss the Ethiopia-Eritrea conflict,
and was briefed by OAU Secretary-General Salim Ahmed
Salim. Another diplomatic source said the Eritrean
ambassador to Ethiopia informed the meeting he had
been made 'persona non grata' and given 24 hours to
leave Ethiopia. An OAU ministerial meeting set for
22 February has been postponed until mid-March "in
view of the current situation". Salim called the
OAU proposals for a peace agreement still "viable
and sound" in a statement released today.

CONGO-BRAZZAVILLE: Government launches offensive

Government troops have launched a new offensive against
militia forces of ex-premier Bernard Kolelas to the
west of Brazzaville, AFP quoted sources close to the
government as saying today. Forces backing President
Denis Sassou-Nguesso attacked positions held by the
Ninja rebels in the Ngoma Tse-Tse region, some 15 km
west of the capital. Meanwhile, "sporadic"
fighting continued in Dolisie, the country's third
largest town, 300 km west of Brazzaville. Cocoye militia
backing former president Pascal Lissouba attacked the
city last week.

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: South Africa reaffirms
backing for talks

South African Foreign Minister Alfred Nzo yesterday
(Monday) reaffirmed his country's backing for Zambia's
efforts at seeking a negotiated solution to the crisis
in the DRC. In a press statement, Nzo said: "We
remain committed to the need for all-inclusive negotiations
as the only recipe for sustainable peace in that country.
Our involvement here must not be seen as a series of
high-profile events, but rather as part of a drawn-out
process." His remarks followed five days of talks
in the Zambian capital, Lusaka, which ended at the
weekend. Officials told IRIN the talks involving representatives
of the foreign and defence ministries of Angola, Zambia,
Mauritius, Zimbabwe, Namibia, DRC, Rwanda, Uganda,
as well as the UN, the OAU and the Southern African
Development Community (SADC), had ended inconclusively.
But the talks, aimed at "establishing the modalities
of a ceasefire" would resume "within weeks"
and would be followed, as planned, by a summit of regional
leaders, the officials said.

Chad claims it controls north

Chadian forces claim they control most of the northern
half of Equateur province. A Chadian military official
told AFP at the weekend that the towns of Lisala and
Bumba were in their hands, and the northern part of
the province as far as the Congo river. The official
claimed that 121 Ugandan and Rwandans had been taken
prisoner and would be "soon" handed over
to ICRC. Independent analysts estimate Chad has some
2,000 troops in northern DRC. Meanwhile, Uganda's Minister
of Defence Stephen Kavuma has denied Chad is holding
Ugandan POWs. He said the Ugandan army was not operating
in the northern sector, state radio reported yesterday

RWANDA: Government reshuffle

Rwanda's minister of foreign affairs Anastase Gasana
has been replaced in a government reshuffle, state
radio reported yesterday. Ambassador to Egypt Amri
Sued takes over at the ministry. Gasana becomes the
minister in the president's office in charge of institutional
relations. A genocide survivor, Jean de Dieu Mucyo,
takes over the justice ministry following the abrupt
departure for the United States of the former minister,
Faustin Nteziryayo. Three Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF)
ministers out of seven have been axed, and five new
RPF figures brought in. The government comprises a
21-member cabinet and five secretaries of state. According
to the private Rwanda News Agency, public criticism
over government mismanagement and corruption has grown.
The reshuffle is the third since 1994.

World Bank makes US $75-million loan

The World Bank has approved a US $75-million loan for
Rwanda to boost spending on social services, news agencies
report. "We are doing this on the understanding
that [the DRC] war is coming to an end," senior
World Bank economist Chukwuma Obidegwu said yesterday.
The loan, dubbed an "economy recovery credit",
is to be deposited directly into the central bank.
Obidegwu said the World Bank had the government's word
the credit would not be spent on the DRC conflict.
According to Reuters, donor funds account for around
45 percent of Rwanda's 1999 budget.

Government donates to genocide survivors' fund

The Rwandan government is to provide 4.3 billion Rwandan
francs - equivalent to 5 percent of the national budget
- to support a fund set up to help genocide survivors.
The donation complements funding from local business
and civic organisations, the private Rwanda News Agency
reported. The Fund spent close to 4 billion Rwandan
francs last year targetting health, education and shelter
needs of genocide survivors.

Genocide suspects released

Thirty-five genocide suspects were released for lack
of evidence on Friday by a court in Byumba, northeast
Rwanda. Among them was Immaculee Nyirabizeyimana, speaker
of parliament during the interim government. Her release
was condemned by the genocide survivors group, Ibuka.
The organisation said it would provide "evidence"
to the court prosecutor that Nyirabizeyimana was allegedly
a senior "genocidaire", the Rwanda News Agency
reported.

Meanwhile, the trial of Interahamwe vice-president George
Rutaganda resumed in Arusha yesterday. He pleaded not
guilty last year in his first appearance before the
UN tribunal to eight counts of genocide and genocide-related
charges.

KENYA: Vulnerability to food shortages

Several parts of Kenya have remained dry, making the
upcoming March-July long rains crucial for human and
livestock survival. Farm households have overstretched
their traditional coping strategies following successive
crop failures. "Farm households residing along
the lakeshore will be under considerable food stress
in the event of poor long rains since the previous
harvest was 20 percent below normal," the February
Update of the Famine Early Warning System (FEWS) warns.
Based on a January survey conducted by FEWS, WFP and
the Kenyan government, the Update forecasts domestic
food supply for July 1998 - June 1999 to be about 3.1
million mt versus an estimated consumption of 2.9 million
mt.

"The situation is bad. About 30-60 percent of the
populations in Eastern, North Eastern, Nyanza, Coast
and parts of Central province need relief food. We
are doing all we can in distribution but we need other
agencies to chip in," Kenya's permanent secretary
in charge of relief and rehabilitation, Joshua Matui,
told IRIN today. According to a current FAO assessment,
import needs are estimated at 147,000 mt, and 95,000
mt in food aid is required for 1998/1999.

Regional situation brighter

In Tanzania, the situation could improve if the long
rains - which started poorly in December but are now
picking up - continue through April, Nick Monda of
FEWS said. Although the situation in Sudan has "dramatically"
improved because of last year's good harvests and relief
assistance, "Sudan remains vulnerable", he
warned.

Mombasa court releases bomb suspect

A Kenyan court has refused the extradition to the United
States of a Kenyan accused of involvement in last year's
embassy bombing. According to news reports, Ali Salim,
a mechanic, was released from police custody in Mombasa
on Friday. He claimed he had been tortured and unlawfully
detained. The high court ordered the immigration department
not to allow FBI agents to take Salim out of the country.